| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | John Hugh Evans | ||
| Date of birth | 31 January 1889 | ||
| Place of birth | Bala, Wales | ||
| Date of death | 1971 | ||
| Place of death | Cardiff, Wales | ||
| Playing position | Outside-left | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| Bala Wanderers | ? | (?) | |
| Welshpool | ? | (?) | |
| 1908–1909 | Wrexham | ? | (?) |
| 1909–1910 | Cwmparc | ? | (?) |
| 1910–1926 | Cardiff City | 356 | (58) |
| 1926–1928 | Bristol Rovers | ? | (?) |
| National team | |||
| 1912–1923 | Wales | 8 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). | |||
John Hugh "Jack" Evans (31 January 1889–1971) was a Welsh professional footballer and Wales international.
Evans was born in Bala. As a youngster he worked as an apprentice printer while playing for local side Bala Wanderers, despite his three older brothers playing for Bala Press. He joined Wrexham in 1908 but sustaind a serious shoulder injury and was told he may never play football again. He decided to move to South Wales to continue his work as an apprentice printer and began playing for Cwmparc and was spotted by Cardiff City, becoming the first player to be officially bought by the club when he signed for six shillings. He made his first appearance for the club on 1 September 1910 in a friendly match to mark the opening of Cardiff's new ground Ninian Park against Aston Villa, with Evans scoring the first ever goal at the ground in a 2-1 defeat.
In 1912 he became the first ever Cardiff City player to receive a call-up for the Wales squad when he was called up to replace Ted Vizard for a match against Ireland. In 1913 Evans converted to Judaism, which caused much controversy. Evans possessed a cannonball shot which was eventually nicknamed the "Bala bang" on account of the fearsome power he put into his shots. His shots were so ferocious that one goalkeeper once broke his wrist attempting to stop the ball and a Manchester City goalkeeper was knocked out cold by another shot. He was a regular for Cardiff during the decade, only leaving the club to serve in World War I before returning. A consistent scorer he went on to score 52 goals in 170 Southern league appearances before moving into a more orthodox position for Cardiff's entry into the football league in 1920.
Evans eventually left Ninian Park in 1926 to join up with former Cardiff teammate Joe Clennell at Bristol Rovers, where he spent two years before retiring.[1] He died in Cardiff.
His shirt and runners-up medal from the 1925 FA Cup Final, as well as his first cap for Wales, are now displayed in the boardroom of Cardiff City after being bought at auction by one of the clubs directors, Steve Borley.[2]